USNEAR Releases National Emergency Alert Pricing Study

USNEAR announces the availability of its national research on emergency alert pricing. The data show what 400+ counties, cities and states pay annually for their emergency notification services.

We're thrilled to be sponsoring this research...it makes us look good.

Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) March 06, 2014

More than 2,000 counties, cities and states throughout the US provide some kind of emergency notification service for their citizens. Now the US National Emergency Alert Registry - sponsored by Hyper-Reach - is releasing a free research report showing what 400+ of those counties, cities and states pay each year for their service.

The pricing data was gathered from a wide variety of sources, ranging from news reports to budget documents to completed surveys. Because of the variety of sources, USNEAR expects that some of the data may need future refining, but that most of the data is very accurate.

The data show a great deal of variation in what communities pay per capita for emergency alert services. Excluding services that are free or essentially free, the lowest cost per capita is $0.01 - $0.02, while on the high side, one town in Texas appears to be paying about $18 per person.

Based on the more detailed survey data that USNEAR has gathered, it appears that some of the variation in pricing is a function of coverage and features. For example, some services will send alerts only to residents who register for the service. Since registration rates are generally about 6% - 10% nationwide, this greatly reduces the number of people who would receive a message in an emergency. And some services rely on free messaging services, such as email, social media and SMS/text messages sent through email gateways.

USNEAR plans to release further analyses of the data in coming months, after more data is gathered and additional verification of the data is conducted. For example, there appears to be wide variation in what some communities pay for what appears to be essentially the same service. Because such data may be controversial, USNEAR wants to verify it as much as possible before releasing it.

"We're thrilled to be sponsoring this research,"said Sam Asher, president of Hyper-Reach, the primary sponsor of USNEAR and a leading provider of emergency alert services. "We believe in the mission of emergency notification and want to help communities get the best return on their investment. And because we're one of the most cost-effective notification services, the data makes us look good."

A copy of the National Emergency Alert Pricing study is freely available at this link. Public safety agencies are also asked to help further the research by completing a survey on what they spend for emergency notification services. A copy of that survey can be found here.

About USNEAR

The US National Emergency Alert Registry is a project designed to help citizens register for emergency alert services in their community. By providing a single, easy-to-use registration form that works anywhere in the US, USNEAR makes it easy for any US resident to sign up for emergency alerts, regardless of where in the US they live. In less than a year of operation, USNEAR has helped hundreds of people in more than 40 states register for their local emergency alert service. For more information about USNEAR, call 704-543-6613 or go to http://www.usnear.org.

About Hyper-Reach
Hyper-Reach (http://www.hyper-reach.com) is a mass notification system with over 12 years of experience in emergency messaging. Hyper-Reach sends messages via automated telephone calls, text messaging (SMS), email, and social media, such as Twitter. Other uses of Hyper-Reach include Amber alerts, toxic chemical warnings, and armed shooter alerts. In addition to 911 centers, Hyper-Reach is used by law enforcement, educational institutions, and corporations.